Tarek Mehanna gets 17+ years in prison in terrorism case

Prosecutors recommended a 25-year sentence, but a Massachusetts man got a 17 1/2-year term after being convicted today of conspiring to help al-Qaida. He was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs after an outburst and yelling at the judge that he was a liar.

Prosecutors recommended a 25-year sentence, but a Massachusetts man got a 17 1/2-year term after being convicted today of conspiring to help al-Qaida. He was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs after an outburst and yelling at the judge that he was a liar.

Tarek Mehanna, 29, an American who grew up in the wealthy Boston suburb of Sudbury, was found guilty in December of traveling to Yemen to seek training in a terrorist camp with the intention of going on to Iraq to fight U.S. soldiers there.

In court today, Mehanna was given the chance to address the court at his sentencing, during which he said his actions were not terrorism and he did not receive a fair trial.

"This is not terrorism or extremism, it's the simple logic of self-defense. I wasn't tried by a jury of my peers because with the mentality of America today I have no peers," Mehanna said.

Mehanna also claimed he was approached by federal agents to be an informant, a statement the judge said wasn't true.

"You're a liar! You're a liar!" Mehanna yelled at the judge.

He was then cuffed and removed from the courtroom.

Federal prosecutors said Mehanna returned to the United States after the trip to Yemen and began translating and disseminating materials online promoting violent jihad.

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At his sentencing Thursday, he could face up to life in prison for his conviction on four terror-related charges and three counts of lying to authorities. Prosecutors are recommending a 25-year prison sentence. Mehanna's lawyers said he should get no more than six-and-a-half years.

In court filings this week, prosecutors said Mehanna lived a "double life," appearing as a "dutiful and scholarly young man" to his family and community, but in reality, he "was a proponent of violence as a means of achieving political goals." They also recommended that after Mehanna completes his sentence, he be placed under supervised release for as long as he remains in the United States.

Chakravarty argued that a substantial sentence is necessary to incapacitate Mehanna and to prevent him from engaging in any terrorism plan in the future. He said Mehanna's translations of al-Qaida materials have gone viral on the Internet, and there's no telling how many people he has radicalized.

"When you conspire to take up arms against your country, it deserves a severe penalty," Chakravarty said.

Page 2 of 3 - Defense lawyers painted a far different picture, pointing out that Mehanna never received terrorist training and say his trip to Yemen at the age of 21 was "entirely unsophisticated."

In a letter filed with his lawyers' sentencing memo, Mehanna, a pharmacy school graduate, said he wanted to show his efforts to serve others, "the world which my heart will never leave." He said when he was first arrested on lesser charges in the case, he was en route to a hospital job in Saudi Arabia, where he had been asked to establish a diabetes treatment clinic. While free on bail, he got a job teaching math, science and religion at a private Islamic school near his home. He called it "the most fulfilling experience of his life," interrupted by his second arrest on upgraded charges.

During his trial, Mehanna's attorneys portrayed him as an aspiring scholar of Islam who traveled to Yemen to look for religious schools, not to get terrorist training.

Defense attorney J.W. Carney argued that the materials translated by Mehanna were readily available on the Internet in the public domain, and are protected by the First Amendment.

"Rather than focus on the inflammatory language used by the prosecution, I ask you to focus on his background. What did the defendant do and, more importantly, what did he not do?" Carney told the judge.

Carney asked for mercy for his client, telling the judge how much his family has suffered. He said Mehanna's mother cries every day and night for her son.

Saying the average sentence imposed in terrorist cases is 14 years, Carney described the government's recommendation of 25 years in prison is "unprecedented in its severity."

Prosecutors focused on hundreds of online chats on Mehanna's computer in which they said he and his friends talked about their desire to participate in jihad, or holy war. Several of those friends were called by prosecutors to testify against Mehanna, including one man who said he, Mehanna and a third friend tried to get terrorism training in Yemen so they could fight American soldiers in Iraq.

Carney painted Mehanna as someone who matured and moderated his views after his trip to Yemen when he tried to become an al-Qaida recruit, and began objecting to postings by al-Qaida.

Mehanna's lawyers told jurors that prosecutors were using scare tactics by portraying Mehanna as a would-be terrorist and were trying to punish him for his beliefs.

"The message in this case is you will be punished if you don't become an informant. He's become one of the most dangerous men in America because he wouldn't become an informant? Is this the ultimate message the United States is trying to send in this case?" Carney said.

Page 3 of 3 - The defense built its case on the testimony of a half-dozen terrorism experts. Mehanna did not testify.

His lawyers acknowledged that Mehanna expressed admiration for Osama bin Laden but said he disagreed with bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders about many things, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.

Chakravarty said Mehanna has been reading quotes from statements made by Osama bin Laden a month after the 2001 terrorist attacks while in jail awaiting sentencing.